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Microsoft Talks Up Windows 8 Mobile Network Support

Microsoft today blogged about mobile network support in Windows 8, its forthcoming new operating system. As is often the case with such post, precious little new information was provided over what was revealed when the Windows 8 Developer Preview debuted last September.

"We designed Windows 8 with you--and mobility--in mind," Microsoft group program manager Billy Anders writes in the post. "We set out to simplify your experience with getting and staying connected across mobile broadband and Wi-Fi networks, removing hurdles and whenever possible, doing the right things automatically for you."

The key theme here, I guess, is that mobile network support in Windows 8 will be as seamless as it is on modern smart phones. It will move between the 3G/4G networks offered by wireless carriers and the more thrifty and powerful Wi-Fi and Ethernet networks used in homes and the workplace. Just like a phone.

That's all very interesting, and certainly useful. But this behavior is present in the Developer Preview build and was first shown off last September. All of the features discussed in this build, and the screenshots, are from that early Dev Preview build. It's not new information.

Of course, Microsoft goes into great detail about the why's and how's of its mobile network implementation. It's smart enough to use Wi-Fi over cellular data when available because it's faster and won't cost extra. It's smart enough to stop automatically connecting to networks you've previously manually disconnected from. And it offers better performance, of course.

And there's some neat details that many people have probably never noticed in the Developer Preview, including the fact that the Windows Task Manager is tracking app network data usage, much like I've seen on Android smart phones. This way you can figure out what's going on when your data usage is higher than expected.

It's all very interesting, especially if you've not been using the Developer Preview all along. Be sure to check out the original post if so.